Bernard Otinpong is a Senior Lecturer in Computing at Ara Institute of Canterbury. Bernard had his PhD in Software and Information Technology from Lincoln University, Christchurch in 2015. Prior to that he studied in the United Kingdom for his Bachelors and Masters in Computing. His interests are in Business Intelligence, Data Analytics and Mobile App development. He currently a branch member of the ITP (Christchurch).
This paper describes the process of designing and delivering a first-year computational methods course using pair teaching.
Pair teaching involves two lecturers working together purposefully and collaboratively to teach students in a classroom setting. This involved varied methods of delivery - practical exercises, demonstrations and sharing experiences and was found to be more effective than the traditional use of a single lecturer.
Students’ evaluations showed that they appreciated this method of teaching, and the overall pass rate for the course was higher than the target rate set by the institution. For the lecturers, our experience also shows that pair teaching supports professional development and facilitates deeper refection through both self and peer review and from sharing domain-knowledge. On the flipside, it requires extra planning, open-mindedness, creativity, humility, and the willingness to risk change, however, it is also a more stimulating and a less isolating experience.
Future work involves using this approach to teach other STEM courses.